If you have been reading this site then it was not surprising the Blue Jays have announced that young starting pitcher Drew Hutchison has been called up and will start the Saturday (April 21) game versus the Kansas City Royals.
Alex Anthopoulos was on a recent broadcast discussing how he plans on utilizing the burgeoning farm system. He commented that while player development is of course crucial eventually contributions to the big club will take precedence.
I think this is a fine example of a guy the Jays are of course high on but feel can make an immediate impact for the big league club. The team needs major league innings and are confident Hutchison can hold his own. Not to say he is only an innings filler or that there isn’t some upside with “Hutch” given his solid 2011 campaign. He went from a relative unknown prospect to a player the Jays now view as a potential big league contributor (or eventual trade chip) going forward.
Notable 2011 Stats:
(A) 2.62 ERA, 1.96 FIP, 1 HRA, 19 BB, 84 K, and 52% GB% in 72 IP;
(HiA) 2.74 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 3 HRA, 14 BB, 66 K, and 54% GB% in 62 1/3 IP;
(AA) 1.20 ERA, 1.20 FIP, 0 HRA, 2 BB, 21 K, and 21% GB% in 15 IP;
2.53 ERA, 2.14 FIP, 4 HRA, 35 BB, 171 K, and 50% GB% in 149 1/3 IP total
Here is what I wrote about him in the Top 15 Blue Jays Prospect piece:
Hutchinson has three pitches that rate as average to above average. His fastball sits in the low 90s but has plenty of movement, and he adds a solid-average slider and a plus changeup. Everything about his game plays up due to his ability to locate and set up hitters. Hutchison’s pure stuff doesn’t blow scouts away, and he’s not especially physical, given his size can he handle 200 IPs?
His strikeout numbers were down (6.5 K/9) to start the 2012 season in AA but he had only thrown 16.2 innings and had one game where he didn’t strike out a single batter. He has a solid arsenal of pitches, impeccable command but is still only 21 years old so it is hard to put any real expectations on what type of success he can have at the major league level.
“We like the strike-throwing ability and his overall stuff and the ability to attack both left-handers and right-handers,” Farrell said. “We are looking forward to seeing his debut and hopefully a long fruitful career starting for him on Saturday.”
Hutchison will go a long way to helping the vulnerable Blue Jays rotation for 2012 and beyond with a solid performance Saturday. It is sure to be a highly anticipated big league debut for Blue Jays prospect watchers.
Blue Jays Hold Annual ‘State of the Franchise’
Published January 30, 2012 Jays Talk Leave a CommentTags: alex anthopoulos commens on Prince Fielder 2012, Alex Anthopoulos comments on Yu Darvish, blue jays state of the franchise, blue jays state of the franchise 2012, jays free agency 2012, jays state of the franchise, jays state of the franchise 2012
When Alex Anthopoulos speaks, Blue Jays nation listens. The GM of the Jays is a great baseball mind and he definitely loves to talk about the game and the future of the team. The team held their annual ‘State of the Franchise’ for season ticket holders and General Manager Anthopoulos, Manager John Farrell and President Paul Beeston each took time to discuss the current health of the franchise.
Here is a brief, high-level summary of the live webcast.
Farrell told the crowd he was optimistic about the Jays’ chances this season.
“I go into this year with ultimate optimism. I think we return a team that was the fifth highest scoring offence in the American League. I really feel like our main area to make up those ten games that we’ve got to get into playoff hunt is going to come from the quality innings pitched from our rotation,” he said.
Beeston was also positive about the future of the Jays.
“I, for one, feel very very strongly that not only are we going in the right direction, but there are so many ways that it can be manifested. In the way that the minor league teams are doing, the way the major league teams are doing, the way that Alex has directed this club and the way that John is leading this club, that I think our future is very very very bright.”
On Prince Fielder:
“If it has been a five year deal, we would have been there.”
Alex Anthopolous added that the roster will continue to turn over this year.
“The roster, in the two years that I have been on the job, has turned over a ton and I think it has a chance to continue to turn over. We’re going to continue to make trades, continue to add players.”
He also stated “the talent level we have, there’s tremendous upside and high ceiling to this club.”
On free agent pursuits:
“Some players don’t want to play on turf, some don’t want to DH, some don’t want to switch leagues”.
On Yu Darvish:
“We’re linked to everyone, but again, we’re not going past 5 years. There’s a lot of guys out there in the league that we like, but we like them at a certain price. That’s why we like the trade route, instead of the FA route. We could have made trades to excite fans, but some of those deals wouldn’t have worked out well long-term.
Pretty standard question and answer type stuff and nothing really earth shattering here. But isn’t is nice to be discussing baseball?